AP Art History : AP Art History

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for AP Art History

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Example Questions

Example Question #351 : Renaissance To Contemporary 2 D Art

Which famous, early-twentieth-century painter is commonly referred to as the father of Cubism?

Possible Answers:

Pablo Picasso

J. M. W. Turner

Eugène Delacroix

Frank Weston Benson

Winslow Homer

Correct answer:

Pablo Picasso

Explanation:

Winslow Homer, J.M.W. Turner, and Eugène Delacroix are known as impressionist painters. Frank Weston Benson is known for realistic paintings, American impressionism, watercolors and etchings. Someone familiar with the works of Pablo Picasso and the specific style that Cubism entails should be able to deduce that Pablo Picasso, of the choices given, is known as the father of Cubism.

Example Question #352 : Renaissance To Contemporary 2 D Art

Which twentieth-century Spanish artist was known for his dream-like paintings?

Possible Answers:

Pablo Picasso

Giorgio de Chirico

André Breton

Salvador Dali

Francisco de Goya

Correct answer:

Salvador Dali

Explanation:

Dali is the only Spanish Surrealist artist in this list. Though Goya created many dream-like paintings in his Black Period, it does not fit the century specified, and Giorgio de Chirico is of Italian decent.

Example Question #421 : Ap Art History

Kirchner   selbstbildnis als soldat

Based on style, the work shown here was painted by _________________.

Possible Answers:

Ernest Ludwig Kirchner

Georges Braque

Henri Matisse

Pablo Picasso

Correct answer:

Ernest Ludwig Kirchner

Explanation:

This work, Self-Portrait as a Soldier, features vivid colors, slightly abstract forms, and a generally dark tone, all hallmarks of the German Expressionism that flourished in 1920s Weimar Germany. Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, the painter of this work, was one of the leading figures of the movement, helping shape the group known as "Die Brücke," or The Bridge, which was a significant part of Expressionism.

Image is in the public domain, accessed through Wikipedia Media Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kirchner_-_Selbstbildnis_als_Soldat.jpg

Example Question #422 : Ap Art History

Matisse goldfish

Based on style and composition, the work shown here was created by _________________.

Possible Answers:

Paul Cezanne

Henri Matisse

Claude Monet

Georges Braque

Correct answer:

Henri Matisse

Explanation:

Henri Matisse was one of the revolutionary artists of the early twentieth century, reshaping and influencing the course of painting. Matisse was heavily influenced by Impressionism and early Abstract art, but often used abstract shapes and forms to enhance somewhat realistic depictions. In Goldfish, Matisse quite clearly presents fish in a bowl, but uses abstract shapes around it to create an unnatural and alluring perspective.

Example Question #355 : Renaissance To Contemporary 2 D Art

Matisse goldfish

The work shown here most closely aligns with the artistic style of ___________________.

Possible Answers:

Cubism

Surrealism

Fauvism

Impressionism

Correct answer:

Fauvism

Explanation:

Henri Matisse was one of the leaders of Fauvism, an abstract art movement that had its fullest flowering in the first decade of the twentieth century. As compared to other abstract movements, Fauvism utilized largely representational forms, but exaggerated and heightened use of color brought more abstraction to their works. The Goldfish, shown here, shows many of the signature elements of Fauvism.

Example Question #423 : Ap Art History

Matisse goldfish

The Goldfish, by Henri Matisse, is most similar to the work of the artist _________________.

Possible Answers:

Claude Monet

Pablo Picasso

Gustave Courbet

Piet Mondrian

Correct answer:

Pablo Picasso

Explanation:

Both Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso were heavily influenced by Post-Impressionists such as Paul Cezanne and Paul Gauguin, pushing art more towards true abstraction in the early twentieth century. Although they had distinct styles, both artists used non-representational forms, vivid colors, and inspiration from non-European art. Matisse and Picasso greatly revolutionized the very form and trajectory of painting in the twentieth century.

Example Question #92 : Twentieth And Twenty First Century 2 D Art

Andy Warhol's Marilyn Diptych is representative of which twentieth century art movement?

Possible Answers:

Pop art

Abstract expressionism

Cubism

Surrealism

Correct answer:

Pop art

Explanation:

Pop Art emerged in the 1950s from schools of fine art and graphic design schools, when trained artists turned their interest to working with images from popular culture. Celebrities, comic books, consumer items, film stills, and patriotic images were all copied, adapted, and repurposed as high art, which also challenged the very notion of high and low art. Andy Warhol's Marilyn Diptych is representative as it takes one image of the actress Marilyn Monroe and copies it multiple times in bright colors.

Example Question #93 : Twentieth And Twenty First Century 2 D Art

Joseph Lawrence's The Migration of the Negro was most influenced by which of the following artistic movements?

Possible Answers:

Neo-realism

Cubism

Abstract expressionism

Impressionism

Correct answer:

Cubism

Explanation:

Joseph Lawrence's The Migration of the Negro is a sixty panel work, with each panel captioned, telling the story of the mass migration of African-Americans from the rural south to northern urban centers in the first part of the twentieth century. Lawrence stood apart for the way his work adapted more from cubism than expressionism or surrealism. Lawrence often commented that he was more influenced by his surroundings in Harlem, but that everywhere he looked in his community he saw elements of cubism.

Example Question #94 : Twentieth And Twenty First Century 2 D Art

Fauvism in the early 1900's was a movement that _________________.

Possible Answers:

concentrated on a renewed use of realistic colors

was so named because its artists frequently chose wild animals as their subjects

was so named because the artists were condemned as "wild beasts"

followed as a natural outgrowth stylistically of Impressionism

Correct answer:

was so named because the artists were condemned as "wild beasts"

Explanation:

"Fauvism" is so named because the term "fauve," or "wild beast," was attributed to certain artists exhibiting at the 1905 Salon d'Automne. Their lack of realism, especially in the use of nonrepresentational colors, led to severe criticism of their work. Their movement was named after this insulting nickname.

Example Question #95 : Twentieth And Twenty First Century 2 D Art

Based on the use of color in his paintings, choose the person who would have said that color was not given to us so that we should imitate nature, but so that we would express our emotions.

Possible Answers:

Jean-Francois Millet

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres

Jan Vermeer

Henri Matisse

Correct answer:

Henri Matisse

Explanation:

Matisse wanted color to reflect feelings, and so used "nonrepresentational colors." He and the Fauves freed color from realistic representation of the subject. All the others are more traditional and realistic in their use of color.

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